Loose sheet binder



OCL 18, 1932. 1 SCHADE 1,882,965A

LOOSE SHEET BINDER Filed 0G12. 3, 1931 A A l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Il l l l l l l l l l l l l INVENToR.

A TTORNEYS. A

Patented Oct. 18, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN SCHADE, OFHOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T NATIONAL BLANKVBOOKQ;

COMPANY, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS LOOSESHEET BINDER `.Application led October 3, 1931. Serial No. 566,697.

This invention relates to an improvementJ in loose sheet binders. It isquite old in this art to provide a binder with prongs or rings to holdthe sheets and to notch the folded il il-edges of the sheets to straddlethe prongs and to have removable wires inserted in the folded edgesunderlying the prongs to hold the sheets in place. The advantage of thisY arrangement is that individual sheets or groups of sheets can beinserted and removed without disturbing the other sheets in the binder.By removing a particular wire the folded sheetl or group of sheets heldby that wire can be lifted from the center or any lsf other part of thebinder and not disturb any of the other sheets. So far as I know, thisidea has never been available in loose leaf binders havingextensiblebacks to vary the contents of the binder while giving a neat appearance.

According to one feature of my invention I provide means by which aloose leaf binder having an extensible back can be used with conveniencewhen the sheets are notched and held in place by Wires for individualsheet or group manipulation when inserted or removed from the binder. Toprovide suchv a binder there are cert-ain diliculties which need to beovercome by special construction. so I havefound in working out suchspecial construction that there are certain advantages in it applicableto an improved binder even though it does not have an extensible back.These improvements will all be disclosed in connection with theaccompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the back of a loosesheet binder showing the nature of one type of extensible back, and howone of the removable wires is arrznged under the prongs, and in thefolds o a. latter in the book. Parts are indicated as cut away to give alarger Scale in this view;

Fig. 2 shows a transverse section through a part of the binder t-aken onthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1, but with only a few sets of folded sheets inplace for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 3 shows a detail of construction in which a sheet perforatingdevice is built into group of loose sheets so as to hold thel the binderand proportioned for the sheets of the particular binder; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of the extensible binder as it will appear whenlled withl sheets between its minimum and maximum'y capacity.

Tlhe particular type of extensible back binder chosen for purposes ofillustration is in general well known in the art. It consists of sidecovers l and 2, and an extensible-g@ back of two parts. One partcomprises the `side 3 and bottom 4; the other part, the side 5 andbottom 6. The bottom portions 4 and 6 overlap for adjustable purposes,as shown in Fig. 2. A strap metal frame 7 with right` A` angle bends atthe ends is fastened by anchors 9 to side 5 and a similar frame 8 isfastened to side 8. These frames 7 and 8 at their opposite right anglebends are overlapped so that one isreceived into a channelIof'thef'ibfq, other in slidable overlapping relation at each end, asindicated in the section of Fig. 3. At each end also, the channel parthas a slotV 10 (Fig. 4) determining the extensible degree of the back.When the back is adjusted to its minimum capacity corresponding ends ofthese slots 10 are positioned so that threaded openings in the endpieces of frame 7 are in line to receive small bolts 11 located at theends of the slots. As the back is extendf @a ed the bolts slide in theslots'and the back is fastened to the desired adjustment by tighteningbolts 11. The heads of the bolts l1 are conveniently made round andslotted so as to be turned by a coin. The construction 35; is called acoin lock. The threaded openings in frame 7 Vare conveniently made bynuts 12 soldered to the frame in line with a hole punched in the frame.From this construction it is clear that the back of the 9o binder isformed into a transversely adjustable and shallow rectangular box withthe overlapped ends of frame members 7 and 8 forming the end sides ofthe box, and the overlapped portions 4 and 6 forming the bottom. Theside covers 1 and 2 of the binder yare flexibly hinged to thelongitudinal edges of the back at the top of their side portions.

The frame 7 carries spaced metal prongs 14 and frame 8 carries prongs 13offset with respect to prongs 14. Each of these prongs has a leg tofasten to its frame and a bent portion to overhang the top of thebox-like back With the free end extending almost to the opposite side ofthe back when the latter is adjusted to its minimum capacity and in anyevent to overlap, across the top of the back7 the prongs Whose free endsentend from 'the opposite side.

Itis customary in such an extensible binder (and in others known in thetrade) to insert loose sheets with round holes punched at their bindingedges .so that thesheets are held threaded on the prongs. It will bereadily appreciated that in this kind of a book there is a lot ofmanipulating to `be done7 particularly When adjusting it in its:extensible back features7 inserting loose sheets and taking them outand taking care to finally lock the book in condition for a neatappearance. Such an appearance is indicated in Fig. 4.

On account of the manipulation necessary, it isnotunnsual,particularlyin binders of the extensible rvclass, to iind that they are used Withouttaking advantage of their compactving or -expansible function accordingto the number of sheets 4actually held therein from time .totimeAccording to one feature of my invention I have provided means to cutdown the :amount of manipulation required in eX- tensible binders so asto invite a better useof such books.

I accomplish Vthis means by inserting and removing the sheets on the.prongs in a different VWay and by providing means to cooperate with thesheets and prongs to removably hold them .in proper relation. vr)The.last named means I have developed With especial :regard to the factthat in an extensible binder there is usually much more transversemovement of the ksheets in the binder back during manipulation, thanwhere the binder is of fixed capacity. I will vdescribe this matter indetail.

Instead of providing 'holes for threading the loose sheets on prongs 13and 14, I cut notches in the folded edges of loose sheets. A

4single folded sheet or a group, as shovvn in.

the drawings, is quickly inserted with the notches arranged to straddlethe prongs. I then slip a flexible metal wire 16 along the bottom foldvof the loose sheet or the innermost fold vof a plurality of loosesheets so as to close up the notches 15. lBy this construc- .tion thesheets can be taken out or inserted in 'the binder in any arrangement orrelative position desired and all so easily that the binde-rcan befilled or adjusted to the desired capacity Without taking the tiller allapart to make the arrangement Wanted. i have found by experimenting withdiiferent arrangements of Wire holding means in their relation to :thehinder that it Vis of considerable advantage to removably attach theWire to the loose sheet or sheets in the fold of Which the Wire lies andnot leave it loose to move end- Wise. A preferable Way of attaching theWire is to make a bend in the end at 17 and pass a vertical portionas at18 through a perforation in the fold of the sheet. The bend 17 serves asa convenient iinger hold in the mapose. But by attaching the Wires 16 tothe sheets, one for each folded sheet or group of sheets, they cannotslip Vendvvise and extend out beyond the ends of the sheets. With thesefeaturespresent in the construction the disadvantage of having theholding Wires loosely mounted in the binder with a tendency to shiftaround and out of place is avoided.- And it is avoided not by tighteningthe Wires by pressing or removably fastening them to the prongs 13 `and14 which might seem an easy solution. That would prevent the desiredfree movement of sheets on the prongs which would interfere with theextensible character lof the binder in its easy manipulation.

The arrangement described is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the latterfigure only three; sets of sheets and three metal wires are shown toavoid crowding the illustration. In some instances it'may be desirableto bend Wires 16 'Without providing any finger grip portion ybut only aportion to interfit With the perfora:l tion. In such a case of coursethe ends of Wires 16 have a simple right angle bend.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a convenient means of piercing the loose sheetsfor receiving portions 18. A steel piece 20 is pivoted at 21 on frame 8,to swing into upright position and to swing back out of the Way. A stop21 limits the swinging movement of piece 2O so as to present itssharpened prong 22 at one edge, a fixed distance above the straightedge23 vof frame 8. A folded sheet is mounted to rest on straight edge 23pulled back toward 20, with the fold of the sheet in line to be piercedat the right place for portion 1S of a Wire to attach itself. When notin use steel 1- piece 2O is turned down with prong 22 buried betweenframe 8 and the side 3 of the. binder back. It is a convenience to havethe binder carry this piercing tool in view of the desire to have Wires16, the loose sheets, and prongs4`- By the arrangement described, asseen in Fig. 4, an exceedingly neat binder with an extensible back isprovided. The outer appearance of the binder has not been aected in anyWay by the construction and arrangement for inserting and removing thesheets. 'Io outward appearance the binder shown in Fig. 4 is one whichhas been assembled with its loose sheets to give the neatest possibleappearance in the old way. But with its interior features ofconstruction shown in the other figures it has many new and usefuladvantages.

Some of these advantages are as follows: The attaching of the retainingwire to the sheets to be retained makes a neater assembly in the binder.The absence of all endwise movement of the wires in the folded sheetspermits the latter to move without any possible interference or scrapingof the wire ends on the binder parts or dislodgment of the wires. Theextensible feature of the binder back combined with notched sheets andretaining wires enables the extensible binder to be more readily made upin neat and compact form and in accordance with the contents thereof.The improved binder can be filled in the old way with perforated sheetsheld on the prongs where that is desired for any reason, and inserts canbe placed in or removed from any part of such a book by retaining wiresas described, the expansible feature of the binder being designed tobetter accommodate this kind of a combined use.

What I claim is:

A loose sheet binder comprising side covers and a back, a plurality ofprongs, some secured to one side and some to the other side of saidback, a plurality of sets of sheets, the sheets of each set foldedtogether and notched along the fold, said prongs engaging the respectivenotches, in combination with spring metal retaining wires one for eachset of sheets and each extending under said prongs and along the foldedline of its set to close the notches, each retaining wire being straightexcept at one end and at such end having a downwardly extending rightangle bend for that end of the wire to enter a small hole in the fold ofits sheets, said right angle bend being formed from the body of its Wirewith a reverse bend to form a finger grip adjacent the said hole and bywhich the flexible wire can be manipulated to readily position it in andremove it from the binder, each of said wires being positioned in thefold against longitudinal movement relative thereto solely by its endtting in said hole and removable from the fold solely by lifting one endout of its hole by its finger grip and pulling the wire longitudinally.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

JOHN SCHADE.

